First of all, I don’t envision doing this every week. The good news is that things are heading in the right direction without a bunch of “pain and suffering” on my part. As I described in prior posts, I’ve been really paying attention to what I eat (i.e. no junk food, good fast food choices etc.). Second, portion control – when I start to get full then stop eating. Also, take smaller portions initially. This goes back to my childhood, but I still feel the need to eat what is on my plate and if I take bigger portions I would still eat even when full. The third element is activity. You’ve just got to keep moving! So, I’ve been swimming, walking and hitting the mini-tramp when the other two are just not options.

Part 1 – Weight & BMI

My weight has dropped from 250lbs to 234lbs. Along with that, my BMI has dropped from 41.6 to 39. Now the BMI drop may not seem like a lot, but it takes me out of the class-3 obesity. The more common name for that is “morbid obesity”. I know the first bit of weight loss can be easier than the road ahead, but this is a nice little milestone. Class-2 still has the nice common name of “obese” thus acting as a motivator. Wondering about the rest of the BMI scale – take a look at the table and chart below.

Part 2 – Physical Change

The biggest change with all of this is that I am thinking about activity. I think about the next round of walking, swimming, stair climbing I will be doing. In the past, I would get absorbed in whatever I was doing and give no thought to activity. Some days I would take stairs, the others the elevator. Again, for just getting started these things are becoming nice habits. As I get into a bit better shape and ramp up the exercise and training, I’ll need to keep these habits I am developing right now. My hope is that I will train my body to expect it and want it.

Part 3 – Mental Change

This is a big deal. There is a difference between going through the motions and trying to make good choices and maybe some exercise. But my “flipped bit” has allow me to really dig into all aspects of accomplishing my goal of Getting into Hiking Shape. This includes taking a little bit more time in the morning to pack healthy snacks and lunch additions to doing research on how much sodium I should be consuming. Using the FitBit website to track my food choices is really eye opening. Knowing what you are eating makes a difference. One other element relates to Part 2 above – the change to get up and take action. Getting away from the “in a minute” and excuse generation to go do something. Attitude play a big part in this as well. My wife has been trying to get me to walk regularly for awhile and I have resisted. In some cases to the point of being a real ass. Granted, I don’t like walking (prefer running), but that was just an excuse.

All these little changes add up to a budding new lifestyle.

Next Milestone – Weight=204, BMI=34 (class-1 obesity)